Grain-flow regulator



Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

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IMNTOR wdo/m 'adwe/l.

' ATTORNEY 1. CADWELL.

GRAIN FLOW REGULATOR. 4

APPLICATION FILED IAN- 2lfl1919.

1,334,929. I "Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

2 SHEETS--VSHEET 2.

IN VENTOR BY dolm flea Well.

h TTORNE Y J'QHN CADWELL, OF ATTICA, KANSAS.

emm-rnow REGULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

Application filed January 21, 1919. Serial No. 272,288.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN GADWELL, a cit zen of the United States, residing at Attica,

in the county of Harper and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Flow Regulators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will'enable others skilled in. the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

l ll This invention relates to a regulating mechanism for controlling the flow of wheat in aflour mill and one of the objectsof the invention is to control the flow of wheat from one receptacle or container to another in such manner that liability of choking or retardation of the flow due to piling up of the wheat in transit will be eliminated.

Specifically, the invention contemplates the provision of means for proportionin the flow of the wheat from one receptac e in inverse ratio to the accumulation of the wheat in the other receptacle. In other words, the discharge of wheat from the first receptacle may 'inltially be the maximum, provided there is no wheat in the second receptacle but as the second receptacle begins to fill, the flow from the first receptacle will be gradually retarded until by the time the second receptacle is full, the discharge from the first receptacle will be cut oil. In this manner, the flow oi the wheat in transit from one receptacle to the other will be so regulated that liability of the conveyer becoming choked will be reduced to a minimum, if not wholly avoided.

The invention may partake of various details in form, proportionand minor details of construction but 'lor the purpose of illus tration I have selected what, at this time, appears to be the simplest form of the same.

In the drawings,

1.1 i I is a view partly in elevation and partly in section at a mechanism embodying my invention Fig. II is a 'detail perspective view of a hopper for controlling the flow of the wheat,

and

III is a detail perspective view of the valving mechanism for the discharge end of to the bin.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference:

l'designates a receiving bin for wheat or the like provided at its bottom with a discharge spout or tube2 to which is pivoted a swinging cut-ofl' valve 3. The specific construction of the valve '3 is best shown in Fig. III as comprising an arcuate blade 4 provided alongits side edges with right angularly projecting arms 5 and 6 supported upon the pivot member 7 which passes through them and through the spout 2. A counter-balance weight 8 is connected to the rear edge of the blade 4 so as to tend to maintain the valve in its closed position. On one of the arms is a lever 9 to which a suitable cord or cable may be attached to exert a force opposedto the weight 8. The. valve may be conveniently struck from a single piece of metal and bent up to the form shownalthough it may be cast if desired. a The spout or nozzle 2 is adapted to discharge into a hopper 10 and then pass into a conduit 11 in communication with the bot tom of the conveyer casing '12. The conveyer casing 12 contains a known form of belt and bucket conveyer; the belts 13 pass over the pulleys 14 and 15 in the usual way and empty into an inclined discharge 16 above the hopper 17 The hopper 17 is pivotally connected to the arms 18 and 19 of the frame 20, like-wise pivoted at 21 in the standards 22 and 23. The frame may consist of a strip or rail bent intermediate its ends to provide diverging portions 24 and 25 terminating in the substantially rightangular, forwardly projecting arms 18 and 19 At the angle of the frame is the counterbalance weight 26 as shown in Figs. I and II. On one of the arms, in this instance shown as the arm 18, is connected a cord or cable which passes. around an idle pulley 28 upon. asuitable support and around a suitable pulley 29 and which is fastened at its end to the arm 9 of the valve l.

Assuming the parts to be assembled as llltl shown in Fig. I and the hopper 1? empty,

for the cord 27 and consequentl elevator 12, discharge 16 and hopper 17. If the flow is great enough to cause the hopper 17 to begin to fill faster than it can discharge from its spout 30, the weight of the hopper plus the wheat will overcome the balance weight 26 and sli htly raise it. This will be effective in provi ing slack for the cord 27 to be taken up by the counterbalance weight 8, resulting 1n a partially closing off of the spout 2 of the receiving bin 1. As the level of the wheat in the hopper 17 rises, more slack will be provided the closing off action of the valve 4 wil pro ress until the bin 1 is completely valved. ince there is no valve in the spout 30 of hopper to another receptacle in variable quantitative flows dependent upon the accumulation at the receiving receptacle and in such manner that liability of choking in the system will be eliminated.

Having thus described my invention,-

what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. In a device for regulating the flow of grain, in combination, an elevator, a valved spout for delivering grain to the elevator below the top thereof, a hopper for receiving grain from the discharge end of the elevator, a support, a member pivoted to said support and having horizontally projecting arms to which the hopper is pivoted, a weight connected to the member, the wei ht of which is opposed to the weight of t e hop per, and a connection between one of the arms and the valve whereby a downward movement of the hopper will impart a closing movement to the valve in proportion to the movement of the hopper.

2. In a device for regulating the flow of grain, in combination, an elevator, a valved spout for delivering grain to the elevator below the top thereof, a hopper for rece vin grain from the discharge endof saidie evator, a support, 'a pivoted member carried by the support and having means at one end for supporting the ho per, a weight connected to the other end 0? said pivoted member, the weight of which is opposed to the weight of the hopper, and a connection between the pivoted member and the valve whereby a downward movement of the hopper will impart a closing movement to the valve in proportion to the movement of the hopper.

3. In a device for regulating the flow of grain, in combination, an elevator, a valved spout for delivering grain to the elevator below the top thereof, a hopper for receiving grain from the discharge end of said elevator, a support, a V-shaped member pivoted to said support and having horizontally projecting arms to which the hopper is pivoted, a weight connected to the V-shaped member, the weight of which is opposed to the weight of the hopper, and a flexible connection between one of the arms and the valve whereby adownward movement of the hopper-will impart a closing movement to the valve in proportion to the movement of the hopper.

4. In a device for regulating the flow of grain, in combination, an elevator, a valved spout for deliverin grain to the elevator below the top thereo a hopper -for receiving grain from the discharge end of said elevator, a support, a V-sha ed member pivoted to said support and having horizontally projecting arms to which the hopper' is pivoted, a weight connected to the V-shaped member, the wei ht of which is opposed to the weight 0 the hopper, a flexible connection between one of the arms and the valve whereby a downward movement of the hopper will impart a closing movement to the valve in proportion to the movement of the hopper, and a counterbalancing weight on the valve for the spout tending to impart a closing movement to the valved spout.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature JOHN OADWELL. 

